And find out how to send the information to the Obama campaign. Seriously.
The 8th grade students, who attend Liberty Middle School in Fairfax County, were required to seek out the vulnerabilities of Republican presidential hopefuls and forward them to the Obama campaign.
“This assignment was just creepy beyond belief — like something out of East Germany during the Cold War,” one frustrated father, who asked for his family to remain anonymous, told The Daily Caller.
The assignment was for students to research the backgrounds and positions of each of the GOP candidates for president and find “weaknesses” in them, the parent explained. From there, students were to prepare a strategy paper to exploit those weaknesses and then to send their suggestions to the Obama campaign.
The teacher, Michael Denman, did not assign any students to do oppo research on Obama, or any other Democrat. So the assignment was politically biased on its face. He divided the kids up into four groups and assigned each one to look into one of the Republican candidates.
Apparently the assignment wasn’t blatantly biased enough: Fairfax County schools are defending it, and the teacher still has a job, even though the assignment violates district policy:
A district policy, which addresses employee political activities, states “employees shall not involve their schools in political campaigns, distribute political literature on school property or attempt to indoctrinate students with their personal political beliefs.”
This could have been accomplished without bias or embarrassing the school, by using presidential candidates from the past or even from as recently as the 2010 mid-terms, and by including candidates from both parties. The best that can be said about the way Denman handled it is that he’s grossly incompetent.
This type of teacher explains the lack of thinking and cognitive skills of today’s youth.
He’s obviously not qualified to teach impressionable young minds.
You’re far too generous. My guess is this individual is not qualified to pour piss out of a boot.
What I don’t understand is why the school wasn’t beset by a horde of parents shouting for his immediate dismissal.
I hope the voters in that district remember this incident when asked to vote for a tax increase to give more money to the schools.
Wonder when this teacher is going to get that supportive phone call from The Won.
I’m delighted Fairfax County decided to handle this at the lowest level possible, with the teacher just getting a “discussion” from the principle and nothing else being done. I mean, if “he” had been a “she” and had been a student taking a birth control pill during lunch, instead of being a teacher doing political indoctrination, then we would have had a *real* problem to deal, with demanding *real* consequences for the offender. But thank God we have school administrators to take care of wisdom, justice, and moderation for us, and that nothing else will be done. I’d hate for the teacher to commit suicide over this, after all. That kind of thing should be reserved as a consequence of student disciplinary actions…
He’s just lucky he didn’t bring a plastic butter knife to class. Then he’d probably would have been publicly castrated….
Hey Bryan – I’d propose some oppo research on Michael Denman!!!
So disappointed in FCPS and very glad that my daughter who will begin middle school next fall, is at another school in this district. The district’s only response was that they weren’t actually required to send their research to the Obama campaign. I’m all for kids learning the process and even learning about points of view that differ from theirs or their parents, but these kids could have learned the lesson w/prior presidential campaigns or at a minimum been given the chance to research both sides.
And all this because a black man won an election? I am amazed just how victimized the GOP is – everyone, it seems, is out to get you.
You restrict voter access, then whine when folks call you out on the true intent of that restricted access – fewer Democratic votes.
You limit health care for women, then whine when the public sees through to your true nature – keeping women under the control of bibley, overweight white guys.
You demonize public school teachers to the point of comedy, then whine when the public sees your true reason – more private (that is, for profit) schools.
The world sees your once proud political party reduced to a regional cult and you bitch about people pointing this out? Why do unhumane things and not expect someone, somewhere to notice? Limbaugh has you folks by the balls and none of you have the backbone to take your party back for the Tea baggers and other nutjobs who hi-jacked the GOP.
Concern troll is concerned again?
Given that none of your points are true, Jimbo, perhaps you were in that middle school class? And did you get a passing grade on the assignment?
My Child is an Honor Student at Liberty Middle School